This invention relates to a separable slide fastener.
Heretofore, separable slide fasteners were known and widely used. Usually, these separable slide fasteners include a pair of stringers on each of which fastener elements are secured, a pair of pin members each secured at the bottom end portion of one stringer and a retainer for separably closing pin members to each other at the bottom end portions of the stringers. The retainer may be a slidable one wherein the retainer can slide over both stringers and receive both pin members therein. In a retainer of such type the stringers can be separated from the bottom by sliding the retainer from the bottom upwards. One example of such separable slide fastener using a slidable retainer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,230. Alternatively, the retainer may be a fixed one which includes a box fixed to one of the pin members. The box includes an opening for receiving the other pin member therein to hold the stringers in alignment.
However, in any of the separable slide fasteners of the known type the pin members are formed independently of the fastener elements out of metal or synthetic resin material and are secured to the end portions of the stringers by specific securing methods. Therefore, production of slide fasteners of the known type is relatively complex and expensive. Also, the pin members of these known types of fasteners are formed in one piece from rigid metal or synthetic resin material. Therefore, they have no flexibility and cannot easily be made to follow the curved guide channel of the slidable retainer or the curved walls of the opening of the fixed retainer. Therefore, such pin members cannot be smoothly inserted in or easily removed from these slidable or fixed retainers.